60 years after German KL Auchwitz-Birkenau
27.01.05
Tribute to memory of genocide made by German to other nations and themselves too

I hope that Ruy Horta would forgive me for posting this material but the day is special. Despite that this is not directly connected with main topic of this forum the things are too important that some basic fact should be written to be remembered. As the last history shows, the lack of basic knowledge leads to many wrong things (like genocide in former Yugoslavia in 90-ties). The story which I present had touched almost all nations of Europe, the scale was of course different but there is no nation (even from USA) whose even a few people were not in this place and most of them had stayed there for ever their.

Now on 27 January 2005 we have in Poland the anniversary of liberation German concentration camps KL Auschwitz -Birkenau. 60 years about the camps (about 7.000 people) were liberated by Soviet Red Army.
There are a lot of misunderstanding, lack of simple knowledge and ignorance around this camp of genocide.
I have written this material because even now there are a lot of cases providing false information (as one well know here aviation historian in his book had written in 1999: “the first task at the Auschwitz death camp was to handle the mass killing Soviet PoW, where they were gassed or expressed to inhuman medical “experiments for the Luftwaffe’ - this was real false, and idiots remarks, presenting lack of basic knowledge of history and fact .

The camp was founded by the order given by Heinrich Himmler (German a pure Arian) on 27 IV 1940 in the south part of Poland on the swamp terrain. The commanders of Auschwitz were: R. Hoss, A. Liebehenschel, R. Baer – also pure Arian – Germans.

It was the first concentration camp founded on Polish territory organized by German SS. The main objective was to mass murder/ genocide the Polish people, intelligentsia. The first transport of 728 Polish – political prisoners came to Auschwitz on 14 VI 1940. Most of them were young people, men (18-25) captured during the crossing Slovak-German border, and they wanted to get to the Polish Army fighting in France and Great Britain (where captured by German guards). Six day later came the next transport of 313 Polish people. To the 31 XII 1940 there were send to the camp 7.879 Polish people. Next year the amount of Polish send to Auschwitz had risen up to 25.000 people. There was also a small amount of other nationalities like Czechs and Germans (there was a real criminals send to take position of camps kapos – mostly murders, psychopaths, homosexuals, ect.).

In October 1941 to the Auschwitz had come 10.000 Soviet PoW, and amount of Polish “prisoners” dropped from almost 100% to 50%. German had murdered to the 1 III 1942 almost 90% of Soviet prisoners, they had left alive 945 men (they soon were also killed). So from the beginning to the 28 III1942 to Auschwitz were send all about 40.000 people of them 28.000 were political prisoners of them 95% were Polish. German had killed in this time about 27.000 people.
In the end of March 1942 was send to the Auschwitz the first transport of Jews, the Jews were also send to the camp but it was individual cases. Since March 1942 German had started their policy of Endlosung (whole termination of all Jews in Europe). The process for preparation to this genocide was personally checked by Himler and Hosse who inspected the camp in 1941. The management of Endlosung was created by Eichmann who had come to Auschwitz too.

The idea of using Cyklon B for fast genocide was invented by a German Lagerfuhrer Fritzsch who got such idea of use a Cyklon B. Fritzsch used for testing effectives of Cyklon B (before it the specific was using for disinfection) prisoners and Soviet PoW.
Exactly on 3 IX 1941 German Mr Fritsch for the first time had tested on people the lethal effectiveness of German (invented by German IG Farben factory) Cyklon B on 250 ill prisoners and additional 600 Soviet prisoners. They were massed in empty barrack in Auschwitz, which were very good sealed. The test was finished with success but they gave on the first time too small dose of Cyklon B and a few people kept there were still alive of one day being inside. So the next day they send the bigger dose of Cyklon B killing all - “Ordung muss sine”. Fritsch had got and award from German superiors for his invention

So the German had invented practical tested tool of human genocide. Up to the 1943 in Auschwitz-Birkenau were working 3 gas chambers (later the amount increased). One was located in Auschwitz camp, and two more were created in Brzezinka (Birkenau) hauses, 4-5 km from basic Auschwitz camp. All Polish inhabitants of Brzezinka village were simple expelled by Germans from their homes. Brzesinka areas (German called this village Birkenau) as you do not know, German did pay nothing for taking any private, not their property, which was belonging to subhuman as they loved and with great passion call other nations like: Jews, Gypsies, Poles, Russian. We were in WW II for German compared as Untermensch (subhuman) with something similar in “their blue pure Arian” German eyes between the rats or insects.

Exact data of starting by German Endlosung is not clear. According Hoss statement it should started in December 1941, January 1942. The first of transport of 999 Jews had come to Auschwitz on 26 III1942 (there were Slovak Jews women). The next also women from Slovakia (789 Slovak Jews) had come on 28 III 1942. The first transport of human whole terminated by Cyklon B had come to Auschwitz in V 1942. German made before murdering a people selection, old, ill, handicapped, young who did not can work were directly send to gas chambers.

German wanted to erase the evidence of their genocide so they created crematory when they burned gassed. Second they did not registered coming new transport, only 400.005 (about 200.000 Jews, about 150.000 were Poles were registered by German) were put into evidence (selected to work in the camps), the rest (mostly the Jews) were send without such a German precise bureaucracy directly to gas chambers. Second Soviet had taken all documentation and still keep it in secret, so it is difficult to present exact picture of whole genocide (up to the 80-ies the figure of murdered there was about 2.500.000-4.000.000). Now we still may present estimation figures of killed there which are more precise –about 1.100.000.

This camp had worked up to the 27 January 1945. Soviet had liberated over 7.000 people (among were several hundreds children from about 3-12 years old).
To the Auschwitz-Birkenau were seed from VI 1940 up to 1945 all about 1.300.000 people: 1.090.000 Jews, 150.000 Poles, 23.000 Gypsies, 15.000 Soviet PoW, 22.000 other nation. In the camp were people of about all Europe nations (from Central, West and South Europe). Among victims of Auschwitz-Birkenau were people from: Austria, Belgium, Czechoslovak, Danish, France, Greece, Dutch, Luxemburg, Norway, Rumania, Hungary, Italy, Yugoslavia, Soviet Union, and even Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, Great Britain, USA. During this time German killed mostly by the help if idea created by Lagerfuhrer Fritzsch about 1.100.000 people, of them 975.000 were Jews (mostly gassed in Cyklon B-gas chamber in Birkenau), 75.000 Poles, 20.000 Gypsies, 15.000 Soviet PoW, about 15.000 other nations.

Less knows fact is since 1940 in Auschwitz was organized by Poles a Polish underground movement. He was created and commanded by a Pole captain Jerzy Pilecki, who as a voluntary let to take him from Warsaw by German in one of many cleaning street by caching Poles by German. Since 1943 this organization was international underground organization Tyeh roganised selfhelp, preparing escaping from the camps, sending information about what is done in the camp). Pilecki had escaped from Auschwitz in 1943 and fought in Warsaw Upraising in 1944. He was killed by Polish communist regime in 1949 (he was loyal to Polish Government on exile and did not accepted Soviet so called “liberation of Poland” in 1944/45).

German made horrible genocide not only in KL Auschwitz -Birkenau, one also should remember other less know buy also perfectly working under German management and supervision camps of genocide like: Sobibór, Belżecz, Treblinka, Majdanek Chełm (where German mass murdered hundreds thousand Jews).

Let no one forget lest history repeat itself.
If one looks at history there are many cases of ignorance and barbarism from one side of humanity to another. To blame every German, in my opinion, would be wrong. I do not blame every American for decimating my family ancestors the Black Feet. I am in no way giving the Nazi party any respect but I sometimes do not agree with blaming a country for it's leaders.

The regime was democratically elected and had quite a support for all the time. It is not about blaming but about responsibility, because there were individuals against it but not the nation. A recent trend to put Germans as victims of their own regime is just distasteful and offensive to real victims of their brute crimes. The one must ask, where were those 'victims' during the war?

I am in total agreement with you Franek. The Germans, AND the Austrians, that lived through that period are responsible for their governments actions. There of course was a minority that did not support nor vote for the Nazi Party. There is an even smaller minority that passively opposed the Nazis and an even smaller number that actively resisted Nazism. The Austrian whitewash is perhaps the most vomit inducing. I have four young girls that love the film 'Sound of Music', I cannot watch the theatre scene where the Ausrian audience claps and sings along to an Austrain patriotic song. Sheer rubbish! They would have drowned out the song with 'Die Fahne Hoch' and chased them off the stage. It is said that the streets around Austrian army barracks were strewn with Austrian Army cap badges on the day of the Anschluss.

So do todays Germans AND Austrians bear a responsibility? I would argue yes the do. The scars of war remain not only for the millions of war children that have grown up without parents, for the millions of relatives still alive today that mourn lost loved ones for the millions who were maimed physically and mentally. Todays Germans owe the former allies two great debts, firstly for resisting Hitler and liberating their country from him and secondly a debt of remorse for those whoose lives Hitler inexorably changed by waging war.

As the Premier of Poland rather tactlessly, but none-the-less truthfully, pointed out that his country would have had 10 million more citizens and thus more votes in the EU had not the Nazis murdered them.

In the 1933 elections the NSDAP received 43.9% of the German vote. This made it the most popular party in that election, but this would suggest that half of the German people did not vote for the Nazi party, and were not Nazi party supporters when it came to power in 1933.

I'm not trying to assign blame, nor am I suggesting the German people were victims of their regime. Just thought I'd make note of this fact.

Everyone has interesting and very valid points here. I am curious what people would think of my interest in finding both the German fighter pilots that shot down my grandfather's plane and the (2) fighters that my grandfather personally shot down from his ball turret on the same day. After reading these posts in particular I am not sure myself what I think of it.
As a side story I hope some people find this as moving as I did: I ride Harleys and heard this story one night:
"So today I was heading up to a rally. I had stopped for gas and there were a few other bikers there as well. They were more hardcore than I was - leather, tattoos, and one guy had on a German helmet as his motorcycle helmet. You could tell because the old German helmets were the first ones to have lower ear protection (he had some of the Iron Crosses as decorations on his bike, too). Anyway, this old man gets out of his car and starts toward the hardcore group. The old man is hunched over, walking slow but as fast as he can and he's yelling at the guy in the helmet. The guy in helmet looks at him like he's crazy and tells him he can't understand him. The old man, still yelling but now starting to cry, rolls up his sleeve and shows the biker his tattoos. They are numbers from one of the camps. The biker looked like he'd been hit with a sledgehammer. Honest to God he through the helmet in the trash right there."

Allowing this dicourse to continue (for the time being) does not imply automatic support of the content by the host. Unfortunately I have to say this before this debate turns into a flame war with the guilty finger pointed at me...

__________________Ruy Horta12 O'Clock High!

And now I see with eye serene
The very pulse of the machine;
A being breathing thoughtful breath,
A traveller between life and death;